Carrying harness for small children

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a carrying harness for small children. The carrying harness comprises a fastening that is fastened to the fixed carrier as well as a front piece ( 23 ) that is fixed to the carrier by a number of separate clasps. The front piece comprises a fabric and a carrying strap system. The strap system included in the carrying harness absorbs the entire load of the carried child and is fastened to the fastening harness by means of releasable clasps ( 9, 33, 34 ). Included in the strap system is a back plate that is connected to a middle clasp ( 9 ) by means of a tightening strap ( 37 ) and seat strap ( 38 ).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is the US National Phase under 35 U.S.C. §371 of International Application No. PCT/SE2008/000099 filed Feb. 6, 2007, which, in turn, claims priority to Swedish App. No. 0700386-6 filed Feb. 9, 2007, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a carrying harness, primarily designed for carrying a small child against the carrier's chest and stomach.

SUMMARY

The purpose of the present invention is to show an improved carrying harness for small children. Depending on how the harness is employed, improvements may be achieved with regard to the management of the harness upon putting it on and placing the child in it as well as with regard to both the carrier and the child's comfort.

A carrying harness according to the invention comprises a fastening harness that is strapped fast to a carrier as well as a front piece that is fixed to the fastening harness. The fastening harness and the front piece each have a strap system that are also jointly referred to as the strap system. The front piece with strap system that supports and holds up the carried child, is fixed to the fastening harness at several points by means of separate clasps or similar items that can easily be released individually. This facilitates the use of the carrying harness both with regard to putting the carrying harness on and upon putting the child in the carrying harness. The bearing pressure on the carrying harness is borne entirely by the harness by means of this strap system. A further advantage of the arrangement according to the invention is that the size of the front piece is controllable through the strap system being adjustable and the fact that a tab projecting from the front piece can lie against the carrier's chest, between the carrier and the child.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention shall be described in detail below in connection with the example of a preferred form of the carrying harness as shown in the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows in diagram form a person wearing a carrying harness;

FIG. 2 shows the fastening harness;

FIG. 3 shows a lumbar plate or back piece of the fastening harness;

FIG. 4 shows a front piece of the carrying harness; and

FIG. 5 shows a back plate and straps of the front piece.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The fastening harness comprises a waist strap with a right and left part 1A, 1B, two shoulder straps 2, 3 as well as a back piece or lumbar plate 4. On the shoulder straps there are the fastenings 5, 6 which engage a middle part of the front piece 23 and fastenings 7, 8 which engage a head support part of the front piece 23. The shape of the front piece 23 is shown in greater detail in FIG. 4 which shows the front piece's head support part 25 and the fastening arrangements comprising parts 35, 36 of the head support clasp. The lock and clasp are so formed that they can be simply fastened and released by one hand. The front piece's lower part 24 rests on a tightening strap 37 and a seat strap 38 that, in turn, is connected with a clasp 9. It is thereby possible for the user to take hold of the clasp 9 without this being made difficult or prevented by the front piece 23. The front piece 23 can be fastened to and released from the clasp 9 to the required extent in order to make the use of the carrying harness as simple as possible even when a child is to be put in, or taken out, of the carrying harness.

The carrying harness also comprises two plates of stiff material, preferably a plastic material. One of the plates, designated a lumbar plate, is positioned on the carrier's back and the other plate, designated the back plate, is placed in the front piece 23 behind the carried child's back. Both of the plates are wholly or partly covered by textile material when the carrying harness is being used.

The back part or lumbar plate 4 is primarily formed as an upside down T, as seen in FIG. 3. In the outer end of each of the two lower legs there are holes 19, 20 or other suitable means arranged in order to fasten the two waist strap parts 1A, 1B, possibly with a means of adjustment, to the lumbar plate 4. In a similar manner holes 21, 22 or corresponding means are arranged at the lumbar plate's upper part in through which the shoulders straps 2, 3 extend can be kept freely adjustable. In other executions the lumbar plate can be divided up into an upper and a lower part that are separate or connected to each other in a suitable manner.

The fastening harness has, preferably, a large number of adjustment possibilities as will be seen from the following. The harness's waist strap has two parts, 1A and 1B that are fastened to the lower part of the lumbar plate 4. Each part of the waist strap possesses a clasp 10, 11 or similar adjustment means for adjusting the length of the waist strap whereby each strap part can be further divided into two parts at the adjustment position. The length adjustment can also be arranged at the fitting on the lumbar plate. The shoulder straps 2, 3 are fixed on the waist strap's forward part close to the protruding strap parts 14, 15. From here the shoulder straps extend to the upper part of the lumbar plate 4 where they are passed through their respective holes 21, 22, (or one joint corresponding hole) of the lumbar plate. The holes 21, 22 are somewhat diagonal in relation to the lumbar plate's vertical middle axis, and allow for the shoulder straps to be freely adjusted. The shoulder straps are then bent back to the side from which they came out and are fastened to the same respective waist strap part. This can be seen in FIG. 3 with arrows 2A, 2B and 3A, 3B which correspond to the respective shoulder straps. The shoulder straps can also have adjustment means 12, 13 for adjustment of their length. These adjustment means 12, 13 are the same as the waist strap's adjustment means and can also be placed at the straps' end-points. The fastening is preferably formed at this so that it can be tightened up, i.e. the straps' length can be reduced through pulling in the strap or tie parts at the adjustment means. Through both ends of each of the shoulder straps being fastened to the same waist strap and thereby on the same side of the carrier, the effect of the tightening is not transferred to the one side or the other side, as is the case with crossing straps. The lumbar plate 4 thus provides an advantageous distribution of the load and a simple adjustment of the fastening harness.

The front piece 23 (FIG. 4) has a lower part 24 that rests on the seat strap 38 and the forward tightening strap 37. The seat strap 38 is firmly connected with the clasp 9 or a similar part in relation to this that can be secured and released. The front piece also has side parts 28, 29 as well as a head support part 25 with fastening strap 26, 27 that can constitute integral parts of the head support part and connect to the outer clasps 35, 36. In the front piece there is also a back plate 30 that is connected to the side clasps 33, 34 while two straps 31, 32 that extend in an outwards direction towards the side parts 28, 29 and, via the clasps 33, 34, are fixed to the fastening harness's clasp 5, 6. These straps are also fitted with clasps or other means of length adjustment whereby the size of the space intended for the carried child can be adjusted. A similar adjustment opportunity is also to be found at the head support in the connection to/from this protruding strap (not shown on the drawings). Yet another possibility for adapting the carrying harness to the child that is to be carried is that the seat strap 38, that the front piece's lower part 24 rests on, is connected to the back plate 30 by means of a strap 37 or the like, the length of which can be adjusted. The entire load factor from the carried child is absorbed by the strap system, in which the lumbar plate 4 and the back plate 30 are also included, so that the textile material, especially in the front part 23, is left devoid of any load. This gives rise to a more exact positioning of the carrying harness as the effect of the elasticity and flexibility of the textile material is largely devoid of impact on this situation. The textile material's function of making the carrying harness comfortable for the child and carrier is thereby improved.

Within the framework of the invention concept other variations of the carrying harness are also possible. The strap in the head support can form part of the harness system and be connected with the seat strap. The back plate can also be reduced in size and be possibly replaced by the seat strap, alternatively via the tightening strap, being directly connected with the laterally-directed tightening straps.

COMPONENT LIST

-   1 Waist strap -   2, 3 Shoulder strap -   4 Lumbar plate -   5,6,7,8 Clasp -   9 Clasp -   10, 11 Adjustment -   12, 13 Adjustment -   14, 15 Strap ends with fastening parts -   16 Middle part of lumbar plate -   17 Lower part -   18 Upper part -   19,20 Hole -   21,22 Hole -   23 Front part -   24 Lower part of front piece -   25 Head support part -   26,27 Strap -   28, 29 Side part -   30 Back plate -   31,32 Tightening strap -   33,34 Clasp -   35,36 Clasp -   37 Tightening strap -   38 Seat strap 

1. (canceled)
 2. (canceled)
 3. (canceled)
 4. (canceled)
 5. A carrying harness for small children comprising a fastening harness configured to be strapped to a person carrying the harness and a front piece which is configured to be fixed to said fastening harness; said front piece comprising a fabric covering, two side clasp portions and a supporting strap system; said supporting strap system comprising a tightening strap and a seat strap as well as a back plate for the back of the child to be carried in said carrying harness, said back plate being connected to a middle clasp by means of said tightening strap and said seat strap; and wherein said back plate is connected to said two side clasp portions of said front piece by additional tightening straps and wherein said front piece is fixed to said fastening harness by means of said side clasp portions.
 6. The carrying harness as claimed in claim 5, wherein said strap system is fixed to said fastening harness by means of releasable clasps.
 7. The carrying harness as claimed in claim 5, wherein said additional tightening straps comprise length adjusting means by which the space intended for the carried child is adjustable.
 8. The carrying harness as claimed in claim 5, wherein front piece comprises a lower part and a head support part; said side clasp portions being connected to said lower part of said front piece; said front piece further including head support clasps to connect said head support part to said fastening harness independently of said lower part.
 9. The carrying harness as claimed in claim 5 wherein said front piece is removably connectable to said fastening harness. 